Posts Tagged ‘nuclear’

This month’s massacre in Paris was horrific — it stole the lives of 130 people and wounded more than 350 others — but may be only the beginning of a new era.

Da’esh (ISIS) has from the start made no secret of its intent to build a worldwide caliphate through brutality, violence and genocide. The group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is also clear about the organization’s perfect willingness to simply eliminate those standing in its way.

If al-Baghdadi is neutralized, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the organization will disband. In fact, it is highly likely that it will not: Al Qaeda has simply mushroomed and metastasized since the death of Osama bin Laden, probably as he intended and designed it to do.

The battle begun by Da’esh was likewise never intended to be limited to the Middle East, nor has it been: Da’esh attacks have been recorded throughout the Middle East – in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel, and Iraq, but also in Africa, southeast Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

More than a third of Iraqi territory now belongs to Da’esh, stitched to the swathe of what formerly was known as Syria. President Bashar al-Assad has barely hung on to the province around the capital, Damascus — and even that only with the assistance of Russia, and Iran with its elite Revolutionary Guard troops and its Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah guerrilla terrorist fighters.

Likewise, Da’esh has been clear from the outset that Israel is far from being an exception to the targets: it dreams of seizing the Holy Land for the crown jewel among its territorial conquests.

Plus, in recent video threats Da’esh promised a Paris-style massacre “coming soon” to Washington DC, along with renewed attacks on Paris for good measure.

As all this Sunni-based radical Islamist activity takes place, however, Shi’a Iran is now becoming eligible to receive new uranium enrichment hardware from Russia, and economic sanctions that were slowing down its nuclear technology race towards an atomic weapon are now being relaxed as well.

But the Islamic Republic of Iran has yet to keep up its end of the nuclear deal agreed upon by the six world powers in Vienna this summer. The uranium enrichment centrifuges already in its possession have not been powered down in the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran, according to international inspectors who monitor the plant. And there are other issues as well.

So it would seem that while Sunni extremists are on a rampage, Shi’a scientists are hard at work making sure their own proxies will have the proper equipment to finish the job.

The Iranians so far have fought Da’esh on behalf of Assad, and frankly, in fear that their own country would be swallowed.

Israel has fought them both.

But in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the Iranian-backed Hamas terror group — spawned by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood — has strongly supported Da’esh, providing arms and technical support. This has taken place even though the two are bitter enemies in Gaza, where the Shi’ite Iranians still generously support Hamas against the increasing strength of the radical Islamist Da’esh, which insists that Hamas does not represent “true Islam.”

And it is here — in this dichotomy — that the seeds of a new Axis of Evil are beginning to sprout.

Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim terror factions normally at war with each other are perfectly willing to set aside their differences when presented with a common enemy. In Egypt, in the Sinai Peninsula, they are fighting together to rout what they perceive as “secular” government forces from the region, who ousted former Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi from office.

The grandson of Israel’s former ambassador to Japan, an anti-nuclear activist, has been arrested in connection with a series of suspected arson attacks in Tokyo.

Israeli-Japanese musician Izaya Noda, 42, is the grandson of Moshe Barter, who served as Israel ambassador to Tokyo from 1966 to 1972.

Noda, a resident of Musashino, has been a participant at anti-nuclear rallies in front of the Diet (Japanese parliament), his father told media. He apparently became a major critic of nuclear power plant operators following the meltdown at the Fukushima reactors in 2011.

Noda was charged by Tokyo police with setting seven fires along the city’s train lines, disrupting line functions and affecting some 150,000 passengers.

Noda has confessed to involvement in setting a fire on August 23, but denied involvement in any other case. He allegedly told investigators he “could not tolerate Japan Railways for consuming massive amounts of electricity,” Tokyo Police told media.

His father, who is Japanese, said he could not believe his son would commit such a crime. Noda’s is Israeli. Japanese media published a photo of Noda’s teudat zehut (Israeli ID card.)

Israel has once again escaped an attempt by the Arab bloc to force Israel to submit its nuclear facilities to international scrutiny.

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted overwhelmingly against the resolution sponsored by Egypt calling for international monitoring of Israel’s nuclear facilities.

This year’s proposal – which is presented annually – was voted down by 61 member nations, including the entire European Union.

Forty-three nations supported the resolution and 33 countries abstained from casting a vote.

The office of Israel’s prime minister hailed what it called a “great victory for Israel in the international arena” following the vote, held Thursday at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 59th General Conference in Vienna.

“In recent weeks, there has been a combined national effort, led by the Prime Minister and the National Security Council, the Foreign Ministry, and the Atomic Energy Commission,” the office observed in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night that he personally had spoken directly with more than 30 presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers about the importance of the issue.

“I explained that there was no place to hold a discussion of this kind as long as the main problem in the Middle East is Iran’s efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons and its clear declarations regarding its intention to destroy the State of Israel.

I welcome the fact that the gap in Israel’s favor was significantly larger than the votes in previous years,” he said, adding that he thanked all the countries that supported Israel, and “especially the U.S., Australia and Canada.

“I thank the EU for voting as a single bloc in favor of Israel against the decision,” he added.

The resolution included a clause referring to Israel’s nuclear arsenal as a “permanent threat to peace and security in the region,” and would have forced the Jewish State to become a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, thus placing Israeli nuclear facilities directly under IAEA supervision. Israel has never formally acknowledged any possession of nuclear arms, and maintains an official position of “atomic ambiguity.”

Egypt itself is presently in the process of negotiating construction of its own nuclear facilities with Russia, which has been involved in producing nuclear plants for Iran for more than a decade.

This weekend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his counterpart, Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi, that he has no objection to a “civilian nuclear program” in for Iran but worries about a military nuclear program.

The two men met Saturday night to discuss how Israel and Italy can further expand cooperation in technology, agriculture, culture and science. Also discussed were way to cooperate “in fighting terrorism, in security and stability for our world.”

“Civilization today is under threat from militant Islam. The savagery of the Islamic State of ISIS captures the world’s attention, and justifiably so,” Netanyahu noted.

“But I believe that a far more serious threat is posed by another Islamic state, the Islamic State of Iran, and specifically its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“Israel doesn’t oppose a civilian nuclear program in Iran. We oppose a military nuclear program in Iran. And regrettably, the deal with Iran allows it to keep and expand a formidable nuclear infrastructure that is completely unnecessary for civilian nuclear purposes, but is entirely necessary for the production of nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.

“The deal will give Iran within 13 years the ability to make as many centrifuges as they want, enrich as much uranium as they want to whatever level that they want. And this will put the Iranian Islamic state that practices terrorism worldwide, it will put it on the threshold of an entire nuclear arsenal.

“But well before that, Iran will get hundreds of billions of dollars of sanctions relief and investments to fuel its aggression and terrorism in the Middle East, in North Africa and beyond that. I think that this will make Iran far richer and far stronger militarily, and it will make it far more difficult to confront its nuclear ambitions in the future,” Netanyahu explained.

At present, Netanyahu pointed out, Italy and all of Europe faces a wave of increasing illegal immigration. “Thousands upon thousands flee the horrors of militant Islamic terrorism in Libya, across the Middle East and in Africa. This is a great tragedy and a great challenge.

“We both want to see greater security in the Mediterranean region and beyond. We are committed to building a better world where our children can enjoy peace and prosperity.

“I believe this is what the people of Israel and the people of Italy expect from us both,” Netanyahu said.

The Jewish Federation of Chicago has added its voice to the growing opposition to the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration with Iran. In doing so, joining at least 17 other Jewish groups who have already expressed their opposition to the agreement.

In a statement released Friday after a three-hour meeting, the board of directors said a “majority opinion emerged and was adopted: to call on Congress to oppose the JCPOA as originally submitted, and to ask legislators to work with the Administration to produce better solutions addressing Iran’s nuclear program.”

The board noted that it had met with officials from the Obama administration, Israel, independent experts and members of the Illinois Congressional delegation, in addition to discussing the matter with “many hundreds” of its own community members.

The influential Jewish United Fund / Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, which claims to represent “the diversity of our beloved Chicago Jewish community,” sees an annual revenue of some $100 million. The organization also coordinates the collective policies and programs of 46 constituent Jewish organizations through its support of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Although President Barack Obama continues to claim that “war” is the only alternative to approving the deal with Iran, those who oppose the agreement don’t see it that way; neither does the Chicago Jewish Federation.

In its statement, the board said Friday: “Iran’s threats to annihilate the US and Israel, its role as the leading state-sponsor of terrorism, its destabilizing of neighboring countries including US allies, its theocratic, anti-democratic regime, its abysmal human rights record, and its Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism must no longer be rationalized or minimized. It is long past time to place Tehran where it belongs on the world’s political map: isolated and ostracized. Hence, no nuclear accord should provide Iran with an unearned ‘express pass’ to international legitimacy.”

The board pledged to continue its past work against a nuclear Iran, which has included the creation of “United Against a Nuclear Iran,” and passage of Iran divestment legislation in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois.

In addition, the board said it would pressure the U.S. government to intensify international efforts against Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and to upgrade military cooperation with Israel, including the possibility of adding Israel as a member of NATO, among other pledges.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Thursday that he believes a nuclear deal with Iran is “within reach.”

Lavrov said he is ready to return to Vienna for more talks together with other negotiators for the delegation of world powers led by the United States.

“We are close to a comprehensive agreement,” Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Ufa. “It is within reach.”

U.S. President Barack Obama made an effort to lower expectations earlier this week, telling lawmakers at a closed-door meeting Tuesday night that “the chances at this point are below 50-50,” according to CNN.com, quoting Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill), a close Obama ally.

Nevertheless, a report by Iranian Press TV claimed this Friday’s deadline might again be blown for a sixth time, and the talks could be extended till next Monday, July 13. A Western official denied the report when questioned by Reuters, however.

As talks wrapped up for the weekend, Iran had not budged from its refusal to allow “extraordinary” inspections at nuclear sites — in other words, its refusal to allow spot inspections of its military nuclear sites. And if sanctions are re-imposed in response to violations of the agreement – as the deal states now – Iran says it will escalate its enrichment of uranium, the nuclear fuel used to create atomic weaponry.

“We should be realistic,” said the Iranian official who spoke with journalists in Vienna on Thursday on condition of anonymity. He said the standard rules of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that govern access to government information, sites of interest and scientists should suffice in determining whether Iran is using nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

What Iran did commit to as part of the deal was the IAEA “additional protocol” for inspections and monitoring. That protocol allows the agency access “sensitive” information held by more than 120 governments that accept its provisions, and expanded access to declared and undeclared nuclear sites.

What it does not provide, however, is guaranteed free access for spot inspections by monitors at any and all sites they wish. In addition, there are no specific guidelines with regard to military sites. Moreover, the Iranian parliament specifically passed a law two weeks ago prohibiting access to military sites by outsiders – including the nuclear site where weapons research is being carried out at the Parchin base near Tehran.

On Thursday (July 2) IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano issued a statement following his visit to Tehran, saying, “I believe that both sides have a better understanding on some ways forward, though more work will be needed.” According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the sensitive issue of access by IAEA inspectors to military sites was among the issues covered during Amano’s visit.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond summed it up in a comment on the Twitter social networking site at week’s end that the delegation was “Not at breakthrough moment yet.”

The current deadline for reaching a resolution by the two sides is July 7 – but that doesn’t mean they won’t extend it again. Both sides agreed to extend the most recent deadline – June 30 – despite having said previously that it was a “final, absolutely final” date.